


A Big Night In (But Not Too Big)

by rockbrigade



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Domestic, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-02-06 01:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1839271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockbrigade/pseuds/rockbrigade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An evening at home with the Jimmis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Big Night In (But Not Too Big)

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of an exchange.

He put his hand into the letter box. Full, again, and when Minami looked at them, shuffling through the stack, most of them were for other houses. He pulled his bag further up his shoulder and headed back out of the front gate. When he did push open the front door, calling, "I'm home!", it was already five past seven, and as he took off his shoes, Higashikata appeared in the hall. 

"Welcome back. Aren't you late, it's five past?" He turned towards the living room doorway, where he could see a clock on the opposite wall, and back to Minami with a kind of baffled energy. 

"I was back here for seven as usual," Minami said, creaking a little as he stood up. He had his back to the door and poked a thumb over his shoulder, towards it, "but there was a mix up with the post again. I went down the road to put them back in the post box. Hopefully, they'll get delivered correctly this time." Minami noticed that Higashikata had his apron on over his clothes, and his sleeves were rolled up.

"Oh good," Higashikata said, "it makes me uneasy when we get a lot of post." Thus settled, he started off toward the kitchen, and Minami followed. 

"We did get a voucher booklet from the supermarket though!" Minami said, waving it aloft proudly.

Higashikata smiled, "Well, that's us for tonight! We can go through it later." He turned back to the stove with a kind of excited wiggle. "This is nearly ready. Can you clear the table? I'll get us some tea." 

Minami cleared the table in the living room - he moved the TV remotes and the fruit bowl, and set out their tasteful deep-brown placemats - and with that the house was ready to feast. Minami sat in his usual spot, with his back to the sofa, and took in the weather report on TV. Higashikata came through and placed the brown mug, Minami's favourite, in front of him on the table, and bent over to place his own white one to Minami's left. "Rain on Thursday night," Minami said, as Higashikata angled the mug until the handle was perfectly accessible from his usual seat. 

"Really!" he said, "Better get the laundry out tomorrow, then," and he drifted back into the kitchen. He returned with two full dishes, and set them neatly down. They pulled themselves up to the table, straightening their backs, and Minami thanked Higashikata for the meal. Pleasantries over, they started to eat. "Does it need more pepper do you think? More salt?" 

"Nah," Minami said, "don't want to overdo it," and Higashikata nodded knowingly at this. The night when they went to eat at the Cajun restaurant won't be forgotten easily. They looked at each other that night and Minami had said, "trying something different can be nice, but there's nothing wrong with staying inside your comfort zone," and ever since, it was brought up as a notable example whenever one of them began to question their life's philosophy. 

Higashikata remembered something suddenly halfway through a mouthful of his plainly-seasoned food, and he chomped it back so he could talk. "You'll never guess what happened to me today!" Minami took a sip of his tea, and raised his eyebrows as he tilted the mug to his lips to show he was listening. "I was at the library, and I checked out a new book - it's about gym interior colour schemes and how they affect people, you should read it - and then I headed to the door, right?" He punctuated his words by stabbing the air with his chopsticks as he spoke, "Here's the kicker. The alarm rings!" 

Minami had to hold himself from spitting his drink. "Wow," he said, placing his mug back onto the table.

"I know! I stood there, the sirens ringing, and like four people stared right at me," he shuddered at the memory, "and the security guard took me back to the desk." Higashikata silenced himself by chomping down on his last mouthful of food. "Mn, that was good, and yeah, the librarian scanned my book and it was fine." 

"It was fine?" Minami said, "So the alarm only went off once?" They piled up their dishes in the middle of the table. 

"Yeah, just once. I guess they scanned it wrong." Higashikata sipped at his tea, "I was really worried for a moment there, though!" He laughed nervously, "I mean, causing such a commotion!" Minami leaned over to pat Higashikata's shoulder.

"Wait 'til you hear what happened to me today, but, you know. Dishes first," and he stood up and gathered the crockery pile. 

"Dishes first," Higashikata said, in agreement, but then, "you tease, I'm on the edge of my seat here!" 

Minami disrupted the stream of the tap with his fingers, until the heater kicked in and he could fill the bowl. He poured the washing up liquid into the flow as it hit the bottom of the bowl. It had such a pleasant smell, foamed adequately, and had lasted well over two weeks now - yes, it was pretty good value for money - Minami lifted the bottle to squint at the label while he waited for the water. He made a note of the brand name. That's another review for his blog, just had to finish writing the one about that new toothpaste brand first. Dishes on the draining board, he shook the suds off his fingertips and then dried them with a towel, and went back to join Higashikata on the couch. 

A game show was blaring out applause and glitter as Minami settled himself on the seat beside Higashikata. "What's this?" Minami said, with a tone that meant he didn't have to add, "And why are we watching it?" 

"Just channel hopping," Higashikata said, padding at the buttons on the remote, "ah, an archaeology show. Excellent." Decision made, he leaned over, resting his head against Minami's shoulder briefly, a kind of affectionate acknowledgement of his presence. Then he sat up, "So what were you saying before? What happened today?" 

"Oh," Minami said, pulling his cheeks into a humourless smile, "It was when I was on my lunch break today. I went to the convenience store to get my lunch, right, but when I got to the counter, I only had change," 

"Oh God," Higashikata said. He covered his face with his hand and frowned. 

"And yeah, you know where this is going. So I apologise to the clerk and spill all these coins on the desk, and he just gives the heaviest sigh and starts counting them. Meanwhile," Minami swivelled around to put his feet on the seat, one knee jutting upwards. He leant his elbow on his knee and motioned behind him with his thumb at an imaginary line of people, "this massive queue starts forming behind me, and the clerk's still counting." Higashikata let out an involuntary, nervous laugh, "The clerk must've counted the coins three times before he rings it up and gives me the receipt. I dashed out of there just apologising, it was awful!" 

Higashikata gaped, and shook his head in a kind of stunned silence. "It's just so creepy when this kind of thing happens to both of us on the same day," he said. He placed his hand on Minami's and squeezed it. "I'm sure nobody remembers it now, though." 

"Yeahhh," Minami said, and he dropped his feet off the side of the couch so he could lean forward and kiss Higashikata on the nose. "Gotta keep positive." He smiled at Higashikata. Higashikata jumped and looked at the clock.

"You reminded me! Speaking of keeping positive," he took up the remote and switched the channels again, "It's time for the lottery!" The loud roars of the studio audience were off-putting, but Higashikata muted them easily enough. The grinning host moved his lips but they heard nothing. "I bet he's saying, 'This week's lucky winners' -- look, look at the way his mouth's moving you can see it -- 'This week's lucky winners'!" 

"They should make that his catchphrase, he says it every week," Minami said. The host gestured off-screen and the camera panned to the lottery drum, and a graphic at the bottom of the screen displayed the numbers as they showed up. "I asked Sengoku for the numbers once, you know, and do you know what he said? 'You have to make your own luck in this world, my friend,' and I don't know, I just got the feeling--" 

"The first number's a 7!" Higashikata interrupted.

"--I got the feeling that he just didn't wanna tell me… wait the next number's 13? Aren't those our numbers?" He turned to look at Higashikata, caught his eye, and then looked back at the screen for the next number. 

"8! They're ours, all right, they're classic special numbers!" They were both leaning forward on the couch, looking eagerly at the TV. "You know, maybe this is--?" Higashikata couldn't dare to finish his sentence, but the appearance of the next number changed his mind, "Oh my God, it is, isn't it?" 

Minami grasped at Higashikata - his hand, or thereabout, but he couldn't take his eyes off the TV to be absolutely sure. "You know what this means?" he said, "that new fridge! That fridge we've been waiting for!" 

"The one with the ice cube dispenser!!" Higashikata couldn't hold back his excitement, "Why stop there, we could have a whole new kitchen!" Yet another number rolled out in their favour, and they were both on their feet, clinging to each other and staring at the screen.

"New kitchen? We could pay off the whole mortgage!"

"Oh, suddenly we're living dangerously!" Higashikata cried.

"So dangerously, we could even get a golden nameplate for the gate!!" Minami put a hand to his forehead, "well, maybe let's not get carried away with the danger," he said, on second thought. 

"You're right," Higashikata shook himself. "First things first, let's put the ticket in a safe place until we can claim the prize." He held his palm out towards Minami, who stared at it. Then he stared at Higashikata's face. "Where did you put it? In your wallet?" Higashikata said, retracting his hand at a speed that betrayed his composure.

That sinking feeling sank all the way to the pit of Minami's stomach, and he said, "What do you mean, where did I put it?" 

Higashikata laughed in a way that made it sound more like a sharp cough. "Well, it's your week to buy the ticket?" Minami's jaw dropped open, and then he dropped onto the couch, eyes to the floor. 

"I forgot," he said quietly, "I mean, when I only had change and the line behind me was getting really long, I just…" 

The room was still. Bright flashes from the lottery show reflected off the table surface and distracted Minami's eye. Higashikata's shoulders slumped, and then slowly, his frame bent forward at the hip in resignation. "It's okay," he said, his voice both soothing but unmistakably disappointed, "I understand. And I knew it was too good to be true, anyway…" They each looked over their shoulders, away from each other, and gave a collective sigh. Goodbye, fridge, goodbye nameplate, goodbye wild, wild future. 

"Ah well," Minami said, with a shrug. "That kind of thing doesn't really suit us, does it?" Higashikata shook his head. "Shall I get us some milk? It's past ten, we should call it a night," Minami stood up - and turned to pat Higashikata on the shoulder, and look into his eyes. Higashikata had a weak smile on his face. "Cheer up, you know things might change for us. My review blog got twenty page views last month!" 

For a moment, Higashikata was amazed out of his gloominess. "Really? Maybe one of them was a manufacturer. Maybe they'll sponsor you!" 

"Free samples," they said, dreamily and in unison. 

Minami switched off the TV with the remote, and then he switched off the plug at the socket. Higashikata diligently checked the windows they never open, to see if they were still locked, and rushed by to lock the doors. The glasses of milk stood neatly - on coasters - on their nightstands at either end of their bed, illuminated by identical lamps. Minami brushed his teeth and Higashikata pulled on his pyjamas. "Wait, did I lock the door?" Higashikata said, stopping abruptly on his penultimate pyjama button. Minami paused, then pointed at the toothbrush in his mouth. "I'll just go and check," Higashikata said. 

Minami sat up in bed when Higashikata returned. "You had locked it," Minami predicted, and Higashikata nodded and pulled back the covers. Higashikata switched off his lamp, and settled down on his pillow. Signal received, Minami reached out to shut out his lamp. 

"Wait!" Higashikata said, and Minami turned back to him. "Did we put the cat out?" 

They thought on this for a minute. "We don't have a cat?" Minami said, and out went the light.


End file.
